Switzerland

Near the end of my travels in Asia, I oftentimes caught myself thinking, "How can I incorporate this into my blog?" while doing something interesting or cool. I didnt like experiencing travel like this - constantly thinking about how I was going to document the experience instead of actually experiencing it. If you've ever traveled with me, you have surely heard me preach (or drone on?) about how taking pictures while sightseeing "disrupts the continuity of having fun." Of course, I do take pictures and enjoy looking through them later, but I feel like I do not fully appreciate travel when I have the distraction of looking for the "perfect shot." Similarily, I made a conscious decision to disconnect myself from blogging for awhile.

Luckily this coincided with my planned visit to Zurich to visit my dear friend MLL (using her initials because some scary dude cyberstalked her and found this blog). MLL and I studied abroad together in Kiel, Germany. Never heard of it? You arent alone. Even Germans sometimes have to ask twice. MLLwas arguably the loudest and most entertaining person in our group (probably a head to head tie with our dear friend Liz). That was in 1999 and I am happy to report that they both are this way, just with more discretionary income and grey hairs.

In college, MLL and I Eurailed around together and hit the European hotspots of: French Riveria, Copenhagen, Goteborg, Sweden, and Hamelin of Pied Piper fame. After our traveling, errr, studying was over, she stayed on in Europe and I returned to the US. A couple years later, I was living in Arlington, Virginia (http://youtu.be/4T1RMuoQnKo) and at a happy hour with coworkers and saw her across the bar. We got together, but lost touch because this was pre-Facebook and you had to make an honest effort to keep in tough in thoae days. So we fell out of touch.

A few years later (read: the post-facebook era) I was transitting through Charlotte airport and look up to see MLL again. Thanks to facebook, we were able to coordinate some business trips in San Francisco and even did a crazy War Tour through South Korea, North Korea, Vietnam and Cambodia. Therefore, it was a nobrainer that i'd include a visit to MLL as part of my Flashpacking trip.

The trip itself was fun, but it was more hanging out with a good friend. Not very exciting blog material, to say the least. But hey, at least it's a new blog entry and after all YOU are here reading it.

Mainly MLL went to work and I spent days exploring Zurich or sitting around the apartment relaxing. Highlights include:

*Eating fondue in Lucerne



*A brief jaunt to the small nation of Lichtenstein, mainly to increase our country count

*Breaking in my heavy duty hiking boots on Mt Uetliberg (Sean - you will regret not doing it...)



*Spending 16 hours moving MLL into a new apartment with movers who thought it appropriate to pack, store and transport her garbage from Frankfurt to Zurich.

*Watching Keeping Up With the Kardashians. If you think this show is ridiculous, then you clearly have not seen it dubbed in German.

*Trying (unsuccessfully) to find a cup of coffee under $6 anywhere in Zurich

*Getting picked up (succesfully) in the Hauptbahnhof by a Tunisian personal trainer/model who refers to himself in the third person